INDIO  Would you pay $225 to have a four-course gourmet dinner in a rose garden, with wines from three countries, at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival?

Or would you opt for the $600 package, which includes one dinner and a three-day pass to the sold-out festival, which concludes its first weekend tonight at the Empire Polo Club, then resumes next Friday at the same location?

More than 120 people paid to attend the first of Friday's two seatings for the dinner, billed as Outstanding in the Field at Coachella, and even more turned out Saturday, though a few may have opted for the three-day dinner and festival package, which cost $1,024.

But for the half a dozen diners seated closest to this U-T San Diego reporter Friday, the $600 package was not only enticing — it was a necessity to gain entrance to the festival, which draws more than 90,000 people a day and sold out in less than three hours this year.

So when Coachella's producers announced on March 27 that a limited number of three day passes were available for the three-day festival, as part of the new dinner package, fans eager to buy tickets jumped at the opportunity. The festival draws 20 percent of its audience from San Diego County, according to Goldenvoice, which has produced the event since its inception in 1999. The VIP dinner package is the latest option as Coachella assumes an increasingly upscale tone for those able to afford it.

"It's definitely worth the price," said Logan Heights resident Elias Delgado, 28, a bartender at Regal Beagle in Mission Hills. "We had bought tickets for the second weekend, then realized it was the same weekend as Easter, so we sold them."

Delgado and his friend, Bay Area marketing professional Margaret Odisho, began monitoring online re-sale options, but were deterred by the marked-up prices or the three-day, general admission passes, which were originally priced at $375 each.

"They were available for $575 on StubHub for $575, but that was too high," said Odisho, 26. "For $600, we could get the three-day pass and a great meal. We picked Friday to have the dinner because it was the least busy day, in terms of the bands we wanted to hear perform. It's great. i feel like we are at a private polo club.

"Out there," she said, pointing to the nearby Yuma Tent Stage and the rest of the festival grounds, "You're one in a million. It was definitely worth it. I would do it again next year."

Delgado smiled and nodded, as he sampled the main course, Stone Family Farms porchetta pepperonata, with flageolet beans and a glass of Monterey Hess Select Chardonnay.

"The food is awesome, but the experience is even better," he said. "Usually when we're at Coachella, we go to the Thai chicken noodle stand or get a slice of spicy pizza."

Jared and Hillary Britt, a couple from Seattle who have two young children, also chose the $600 package.